People's Liberation Army Ground Force
The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) (中国人民解放军陆军) is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army, and deploys over 8,000 tanks, 4,000 armored vehicles, and 25,000 artillery pieces. Although it is currently equipped with large numbers of antiquated Soviet era weaponry, the PLA Ground Forces are undergoing major upgrades and re-structuring to deal with future land warfare. History The PLA ground forces consisted of conventionally armed main and regional units and in 1987 made up over 70 percent of the PLA. It provided a good conventional defense but had only limited offensive potential and was poorly equipped for nuclear, biological, or chemical warfare. Main forces included about 35 group armies, comprising 118 infantry divisions, 13 armored divisions, and 33 artillery and antiaircraft artillery divisions, plus 71 independent regiments and 21 independent battalions of mostly support troops. Regional forces consisted of 73 divisions of border defense and garrison troops plus 140 independent regiments. Under the old system, a field army consisted of three partially motorized infantry divisions and two regiments of artillery and antiaircraft artillery. Each field army division had over 12,000 personnel in three infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, one armored regiment, and one antiaircraft artillery battalion. Organization was flexible, the higher echelons being free to tailor forces for combat around any number of infantry divisions. At least theoretically, each division had its own armor and artillery — actual equipment levels were not revealed and probably varied — and the assets at army level and within the independent units could be apportioned as needed. The new, main-force group armies typically included 46,300 troops in up to four divisions, believed to include infantry, armor, artillery, air defense, airborne, and air support elements. Although the new group armies were supposed to reflect a move to combined-arms operations, because of a lack of mechanization they continued to consist of infantry supported by armor, artillery, and other units. The 13 armored divisions each had 3 regiments and 240 main battle tanks but lacked adequate mechanized infantry support. There was little evidence of the use of armored personnel carriers during the Sino-Vietnamese border conflict in 1979, and tanks were used as mobile artillery and as support for dismounted infantry. Artillery forces emphasized towed guns, howitzers, and truck-mounted multiple rocket launchers. In the 1980s some self-propelled artillery entered service, but the PLA also produced rocket launchers as a cheaper but not totally effective alternative to self-propelled guns. There was a variety of construction equipment, mobile bridging, trucks, and prime movers. A new multiple rocket launcher for scattering antitank mines appeared in 1979, but mine-laying and mine-clearing equipment remained scarce. Regional forces consisted of full-time PLA troops organized as independent divisions for garrison missions. Garrison divisions were static, artillery-heavy units deployed along the coastline and borders in areas of likely attack. Regional forces were armed less heavily than their main-force counterparts, and they were involved in training the militia. They were the PLA units commonly used to restore order during the Cultural Revolution. In 1987 the PLA ground forces, which relied upon obsolescent but serviceable equipment, were most anxious to improve defenses against armored vehicles and aircraft. Most equipment was produced from Soviet designs of the 1950s, but weapons were being incrementally upgraded, some with Western technology. One example of upgraded, Soviet-design equipment was the Type 69 main battle tank, an improved version of the Type 59 main battle tank, itself based on the Soviet T-54. The Type 69 main battle tank had improved armor, a gun stabilizer, a fire control system including a laser range finder, infrared searchlights, and a 105mm smooth-bore gun. In 1987 the existence of a new, Type 80 main battle tank was revealed in the Western press. The tank had a new chassis, a 105mm gun, and a fire control system. Production of the Type 80 tank had not yet begun. The PLA was believed to have atomic demolition munitions, and there were unconfirmed reports that it also had tactical nuclear weapons. In any case, nuclear bombs and missiles in the Chinese inventory could be used in a theater role. The PLA had a scarcity of antitank guided missiles, tactical surface-to-air missiles, and electronics to improve communications, fire control, and sensors. China began production of the Soviet Sagger antitank missile in 1979 but lacked a more powerful, longer range, semiautomatic antitank guided missile. The PLA required a mobile surface-to-air missile and an infantry shoulder-fired missile for use against helicopters and certain other aircraft. Formations and units The PLA has 18 group armies (corps size), divided among the seven military regions - Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu - and are currently downsizing some of their divisions into brigades. The IISS currently attributes the PLA Ground Force with 9 active tank divisions consisting of a number of armoured brigades. Dennis Blasko wrote in 20001 that the traditional structure of PLA divisions consisted roughly of three regiments - tuan - of the main arm, each of three battalions plus support units, a fourth regiment of infantry (in an armoured division) or armour (in an infantry division), an artillery regiment, an anti-aircraft regiment or battalion, and signals, engineer, reconnaissance, and chemical defence battalions or companies, plus combat service support units. A typical PLA armoured brigade has 4 tank battalions (124 main battle tanks)- each tank battalion has 3 tank companies (30 + 1 tank for the battalion commander), 1 mechanised infantry battalion (40 armoured personnel carriers), 1 artillery battalion (18 self-propelled howitzers) - 3 batteries of 6 guns each and 1 anti-aircraft battalion (18 self-propelled howitzers) - 3 batteries of 6 guns each. There are 8 active artillery divisions consisting of a number of artillery brigades. A typical PLA artillery brigade has 4 artillery battalions each with 18 guns in 3 batteries and 1 self-propelled anti-tank gun battalion (18 vehicles). Equipment Infantry equipment Pistols *QSZ-92 - newest pistol, 9 mm and 5.8 mm versions *Type 84 - 7.62 mm mini pistol for security and police forces *Type 77 - standard 7.62 mm for People's Armed Police and civil police *Type 67 - 7.62 mm silenced pistol for scout and special operations *Type 64 - 7.62 mm silenced pistol, better performance and reliability over Type 54 *Type 54 - 7.62 mm, copy of the Soviet TT1930/1933, currently being phased out Submachine guns *Type 05 - newest smg, 9 mm and 5.8 mm versions *Type 85 - updated Type 79, reduced firing noise, also suppressed and 5.8 mm versions *Type 79 - 7.62 mm for airborne, scout and special operations *Type 64 - low flash, suppressed 7.62 mm for scout and special operations Rifles *Type 03 - The newest rifle using 5.8x42 mm ammo and with a traditional design. *Type 95 - family of 5.8x42 mm bullpup design assault rifle, carbine and squad machine gun. Factory names are QBZ-95, CAR-95 and QBB-95, respectively. *Type 87 - 5.8 mm assault rifle and squad machine gun, improved version of Type 81, refused by PLA because of outdated layout, technology used in Type 95 *Type 81 - 7.62 mm assault rifle and squad machine gun, replaced the Chinese Type 56 Assault Rifle and Chinese Type 56 Carbine, both copies of the Soviet AK-47 and Soviet SKS. *Type 88/QBU-88 - 5.8 mm newest sniper rifle *Type 85 - improved version of Type 79, higher rate of fire but shorter range *Type 79 - 7.62 mm sniper rifle, copy of Soviet Dragunov SVD Machine guns *Type 88/QJY-88 - new 5.8 mm GPMG, replacing Type 67 *Type 80 - 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun (copy of the Soviet PKM) *Type 67 - 7.62 mm general purpose machine gun, replacing the Type 53 (SG43) and Type 57 (SGM) 7.62 mm general purpose machine guns Shoulder launched weapons *PF-98 - 120 mm Anti-tank Weapon *PF-97 - 80 mm fuel air explosive launcher *PF-89 - 80 mm Lightweight Anti-tank Weapon, comparable to the United States M136 AT4 *FHJ-84 - twin 62 mm rocket launcher, slowly replacing the Type 69-1 (copy of RPG-7) Vehicles Main battle tanks *Type 98/99 *Type 96 *Type 88 *Type 69/79 *Type 59D and Type 59D1 Light/amphibious tanks *Type 63 *Type 62 Infantry fighting vehicles *Type 97 *ZBD2000 *Type 90/92A/ZSL-92A/WZ551 *Type 92/ZSL-92/WZ551 *Type 86/WZ 501/ WZ 501A/WZ 503/WZ 504 Armored personnel carriers *Type 89/YW 534 *WZ 523 *Type 86 *Type 85/YW 531H *Type 77/Type 77-1/Type 77-2 *Type 63/YW 531C/D/E Rocket artillery *WS-1 and WS-1B 8 and 4 tube 320mm multiple rocket launcher *A-100 MRL 10 tube 300mm multiple rocket launcher *WM-80 and Type 83/WM-40 273mm multiple rocket launcher *Type 85/YW 306 23mm rocket artillery gun *Type 82 30 tube 130mm multiple rocket launcher *Type 90 (on a Tiema SC2030 6X6 flatbed truck) and Type 89 (tracks) 40 tube 122mm multiple rocket launchers Gun artillery *PLZ-45 155mm self-propelled howitzer *YW 323 D30 and Type 89/ PLZ-89 amphibious 122mm self-propelled howitzers *Type 90 122mm self-propelled howitzer *Type 89 155mm towed gun/howitzer *Type 66 and Type 83 152mm towed gun/howitzers *Type 59 and Type 59-1 130mm towed field guns *Type 85 122mm towed howitzer *YW 382 120mm amphibious mortar carrier *YW 383 82mm amphibious mortar carrier Anti-aircraft *Type 80 twin 57mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun *HQ-2J anti-aircraft missile *HQ-10 anti-aircraft missile *HQ-9 land and naval based anti-aircraft missile *HQ-15 anti-aircraft missile *KS-1 SAM *Various MANPADS **HN-5 **QW-1 **QW-2 **QW-3 **QW-4 **QW-11 **QW-18 **FN-6 Non-combat vehicles *Type 84 bridge laying tank *Type 653 and Type 59 armored recovery vehicles *YW 703 and Type 85 amphibious recovery vehicles *Type 85, YW 750, and WZ 506 amphibious command vehicles *Type 77-2 amphibious artillery ammunition carrier *WZ 751, YW 750, and WZ 505 amphibious armored ambulances *Bv206 tracked all-terrain multipurpose vehicle *Type 77 and Type 60/WZ 420/Wz 421 tracked tractors *Type 82 truck consisting of the HY473 (tractor truck) and HY962 (semi-trailer) - Heavy Equipment Transporter *TA580/TAS5380 (20 ton 8x8), TAS5450 (25 ton 8x8), TAS5500 (28 ton 10x10), TAS5570 (30 ton 10x10) and TAS5690 (42 ton 12x12) series special heavy duty trucks *WS2300(6x6), WS2400(8x8) and WS2500(10x8) 20 ton series special heavy duty trucks *XC2200 7.5 ton 6x6 heavy duty trucks *SX2190 7 ton 6x6 trucks replacing the JN252, CQ261 and SX250 heavy duty trucks *SX250/SX2150 series 5 ton 6x6 heavy duty trucks *EQ2102 series 3.5 ton trucks *CA141/CA1091 series trucks *EQ240/EQ2081 and EQ245/EQ2100 series 2.5 ton trucks *EQ2050A series High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) *NJ2045/2046 series 1.5 ton lightweight vehicle *BJ212/BJ2020 series 0.5 ton lightweight 4x4 vehicle Aircraft *CAIC WZ-10 attack helicopter *Harbin WZ-9 multi-role attack helicopter *Mil Mi-17Hip-H multi-role helicopter *Mil Mi-8 Hip transport helicopter *Mil Mi-6 Hook transport helicopter *Sikorsky S-70C Black Hawk transport helicopter *Eurocopter AS 332L Super Puma *Changhe Z-8A utility helicopter *Harbin Z-9 multi-role light helicopter *Aérospatiale SA 318 Alouette III utility helicopter *Aérospatiale SA 341 Gazelle attack helicopter Category:Armies Ground Force, People's Liberation Army